LSI Launches Flood Maps on Web

LIS Flood Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial that provides flood determination services for the real estate and lending industries, has launched Web Maps, a comprehensive suite of online flood map services.

To provide maximum detail and accuracy when illustrating a property's relationship with a flood zone, this solution combines an interactive property search feature with a selection of map images, LSI said.

The interactive property search feature in the Web Maps is powered by a MapQuest interface. The interface enables the plotted point fore each address to be adjusted to more appropriately reflect the accurate location of a specified property. Once a subject property is plotted, users have the option to view two different types of full-color flood maps: Federal Emergency Management Agency images and digital GIS coverages.

While the FEMA maps are the controlling documents from which flood zone determinations are made, GIS coverages offer more specific and regularly updated street information in a visually appealing format. Both the FEMA and GIS flood map images in Web Maps can be overlaid onto a satellite image of a specific property and its surrounding area. Layering these images provides more specific detail about the subject structure in relation to streets and flood zone areas.

LSI Flood Services demonstrated its new Web Maps solution in its booth at the National Flood Insurance Program conference, which was held on Marco Island, Fla., from May 31 to June 3.

"We are confident our new Web Maps solution will provide appraisers and other real estate professionals with an automated means of obtaining the most accurate and detailed flood mapping imagery available," said LSI Flood Services general manager and SVP Mark Reedy in a press release from LSI.